Ella Jansen Wins Three Times, Laon Kim Adds Another 13-14 NAG Record To Close OJI

2022 ONTARIO JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL (OJI)

• December 16-18, 2022
• Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Short Course Meters (25 meters), Prelims/Finals
• Psych Sheets
• Live Stream
• Live Results

Laon Kim‘s assault on the Canadian age group record books didn’t stop on Sunday as the 14-year-old HYACK swimmer added a sixth NAG mark to his collection on the final day of the 2022 Ontario Junior International meet in Toronto.

Kim first broke his own NAG record in the boys’ 13-14 200 IM in the prelims, clocking 2:03.28 to down his previous mark of 2:04.15 set in June, and then he obliterated that in the final, placing second overall in a time of 2:00.93.

The gains he’s made over the last six months in breaststroke were apparent this week, splitting more than two seconds faster in both prelims and finals compared to where he was in June.

Split Comparison

Winning the 200 IM was 17-year-old University of Calgary Swim Club product Lorne Wigginton, who cracked the 2:00 barrier for the first time in 1:59.53.

Kim also came incredibly close to breaking a 43-year-old 13-14 NAG record in the 1500 free, as he dropped over 48 seconds from his personal best time in 15:32.99, just shy of two-time Olympic gold medalist Alex Baumann‘s mark of 15:32.15 set way back in 1979.

Kim’s previous best stood at 16:21.86, set in November 2021, and he had gone 16:12.80 in long course this past summer.

Winning the boys’ 1500 was Great Britain’s Tyler Melbourne-Smith, who dropped 10 seconds to finish in a time of 14:58.50. Wigginton took second in 15:10.61, while Kim placed sixth overall.

Kim capped his standout performance in Toronto with a blistering 53.92 split on HYACK’s 400 medley relay, well under both his personal best time (56.03) and the existing 13-14 NAG record held by Antoine Destang (55.22).

On the girls’ side, Etobicoke’s Ella Jansen continued to shine as she won her fourth and fifth individual titles of the meet in the 800 freestyle and 200 backstroke.

Jansen, 17, dropped more than six seconds in the 800 free to bring her best time down to 8:16.36, taking down the meet record previously held by Olivia Anderson (also of Etobicoke) of 8:22.60 from 2015. Jansen also moved up to second all-time in the girls’ 15-17 age group behind yet another ESWIM product, Summer McIntosh (8:07.12).

Jansen followed up by dropping over a second to claim the 200 back (2:07.53), while 14-year-old Madison Kryger of Brock had a significant drop to finish as the runner-up in 2:10.06, catapulting herself up into second all-time in the girls’ 13-14 age group. Prior to her 2:11.78 swim in the heats, Kryger’s PB of 2:13.34 ranked her 22nd.

Jansen closed things out by helping Etobicoke complete the relay sweep, winning the girls’ 400 medley relay in a time of 4:02.75 to near the 15-17 NAG record of 4:01.58 set by Island Swimming in 2016.

The team was comprised of Delia Lloyd (1:01.35), Elan Daley (1:09.24), Victoria Raymond (58.63) and Jansen (53.35). The Etobicoke girls broke the 15-17 NAG records earlier in the meet in the 400 and 800 free relay.

Daley had an individual win of her own on Sunday, claiming the girls’ 100 free in a time of 53.35 after breaking 54 seconds for the first time in the prelims (53.83). Great Britain’s Eva Okaro (54.23) placed second, and UCSC’s Kamryn Cannings (54.40) was third.

Daley added a second-place finish in the 50 breast, swimming a best time of 31.85 as she got narrowly out-touched by Great Britain’s Mabli Collyer (31.83).

In the boys’ 400 medley relay, the British quartet of Matthew Ward (51.98), Callum Melville (59.90), Antonio Rodriguez (52.60) and Reuben Rowbotham-Keating (48.88) put a scintillating time of 3:33.36 to break the 2019 OJI meet record of 3:34.04 set by Great Britain.

In placing second, the UCSC boys broke their third Canadian 15-17 NAG relay record, as Aiden Norman (52.19), Jett Verjee (1:01.85), Nicholas Duncan (53.96) and Paul Dardis (48.18) combined for a time of 3:36.18 to knock more than four seconds off the old mark of 3:40.67 set by Oakville Aquatic Club in 2013.

OTHER DAY 3 WINNERS

• In the girls’ 200 IM, 14-year-old Brit Phoebe Cooper used a strong breaststroke leg to ultimately claim the victory in 2:11.89, holding off NKB’s Julie Brousseau (2:12.03). 14-year-old Maxine Clark was third in a big best time of 2:14.70.
• UCSC’s Paul Dardis skipped the 49s in the boys’ 100 free, bringing his best time down from 50.00 to 48.45 in the prelims and then 48.32 to win the final decisively. Both his morning and night swims broke the Alberta Provincial Record for 16-year-olds, which stood at 49.50 coming into the meet.
• Aiden Norman knocked his Alberta Provincial Record for 16-year-olds down from 1:53.66 to 1:52.81 en route to winning the boys’ 200 back by more than three seconds.
• Callum Melville of GBR denied MAC’s Brayden Taivassalo the boys’ breaststroke sweep, winning the 50 in a time of 27.73 to edge out Taivassalo (27.88).